Hetzner Cloud

Sell Hetzner Cloud servers from Blesta with a complete self-service control panel built into your client area - console, reinstall, backups, snapshots, volumes and firewall included.

What it does

Selling Hetzner Cloud VPS hosting usually means either provisioning every order by hand or building your own integration against Hetzner's API. The Hetzner Cloud module connects Blesta directly to Hetzner, so a paid order builds the server automatically at the location, size and image your package allows, and hands your client a working root password with no staff involvement. From there, your clients manage their own server from a full control panel inside their Blesta client area - power controls, a browser-based console, backups, snapshots, volumes, networking, a firewall and more - so routine requests never need to reach your support queue.

Key features

• Fully automated provisioning: A paid order builds the server with the location, type, image and IPv4/IPv6 addresses the package allows, and delivers the root password to the client automatically.
• Browser VNC console: Clients get a working console in their browser with no extra software - complete with a pop-out window, Send Ctrl+Alt+Del and paste-from-clipboard.
• Live performance graphs: CPU usage, disk IOPS and bandwidth, and network packets and bandwidth are plotted right on the management tab.
• One-click reinstall, rescue and password reset: Clients rebuild their server from system images, app images or their own snapshots, boot into the Hetzner rescue system, or reset the root password themselves, each with a confirmation step first.
• Backups, snapshots and block storage volumes: Enable daily backups, a snapshot allowance and a volume allowance per package, and clients create, restore, resize and delete them on their own - with the exact mount commands printed for them.
• Networking, reverse DNS and firewall rules: Additional IPv4/IPv6 addresses, reverse DNS edits and a full inbound/outbound firewall rule editor are all self-service.
• SSH key management: Clients can paste an SSH public key at checkout and add or remove keys per service afterwards, with a key already on the account detected and reused automatically.
• Bandwidth warnings and automatic suspension: Optionally warn clients by email as they approach their bandwidth allowance, suspend on overage, and automatically unsuspend once usage recovers - while leaving suspensions made for any other reason untouched.
• Sell every tier from one package: Attach configurable options for location, size, image, IP counts, volumes, backups, snapshots and bandwidth so clients can customize what they order, all from a single package.
• Built-in demo mode: A fixture-backed Mock API Mode lets you try out or demo the entire order-to-management flow with no Hetzner account or API token.

Contact Us

If you encounter any issues or have suggestions for improving the module, please get in touch with us. We are committed to providing ongoing support and welcome your feedback.

Installing Hetzner Cloud

Before you start

• If you are on the leased (subscription) licence, the Blesta Club Subscription Manager must be installed and your subscription active. The owned and owned-source licences have no such requirement.

1. Upload the files

Upload the extension folder into your Blesta installation so it lands under your Blesta directory at:

components/modules/hetzner_cloud/

For example, on a typical install: /var/www/html/blesta/components/modules/hetzner_cloud/

2. Install it in Blesta

1. Log in to your Blesta admin area with a staff account that has the Modules permission (specifically Install Module and Manage Module) under the Settings group in Manage Staff Groups.
2. Go to Settings > Company > Modules and click the Available tab.
3. Find Hetzner Cloud in the list and click Install.

3. Configure it

1. On the Modules page's Installed tab, find Hetzner Cloud and click Manage.
2. Click Add Account and give it a Name (a label for this Hetzner Cloud project), then paste in your Hetzner Cloud API Token (generate one in the Hetzner Cloud Console, under your project's Security > API Tokens, with Read & Write access). Alternatively, tick Mock API Mode to try the module out first with built-in sample data - no token is required in that mode, and no live calls to Hetzner are made.
3. Save the account. Repeat this step for each additional Hetzner Cloud project you want to sell servers from.
4. A background task is registered on Blesta's cron automatically when you install the module - it checks bandwidth usage every 15 minutes to handle the optional warning emails and suspensions below. No separate setup is needed.
5. Before clients can order, create at least one package under Packages, choose Hetzner Cloud as the module, then select the Account you just added along with the Location, Server Type, Image, and the IPv4/IPv6, Volume, Backup, Snapshot and Bandwidth limits you want that package to include.

You're ready to go - see the usage guide for a walkthrough of day-to-day use.

Updating Hetzner Cloud

Upgrading works just like installing: upload the new files over the old ones, then run the upgrade from the same page you installed it on.

1. Back up your current extension files first - good practice before any upgrade.
2. Upload the new version over the existing folder, replacing the old files.
3. Log in to your Blesta admin area and go to Settings > Company > Modules.
4. Find Hetzner Cloud and click Update to run the upgrade.

Version-specific notes

• v2.0.0:
  • Editing a service's name (with "provision with the module" enabled) now renames the actual Hetzner server, using the same uniqueness check as the order form.
  • The bandwidth cron now automatically unsuspends a server once its usage recovers, and packages gain a new Bandwidth Warning Threshold (%) option that emails the client as they approach their limit. It's optional - leave it blank or at 0 to keep the old behaviour.
  • Changing a service to a package with a different Backups setting now enables or disables Hetzner backups to match.
  • Clients can now supply an SSH public key at order time and manage per-service keys from a new SSH Keys tab.
  • New packages are now pre-filled with a welcome email template containing the server name, IP addresses and root password - existing packages are unchanged; copy the template from a newly created package if you want it on existing ones.
  • No account re-save or migration is required for this release.
• v1.1.0:
  • API tokens are now stored encrypted. Existing accounts keep their current token working, but to encrypt it you'll need to open Settings > Company > Modules > Hetzner Cloud, edit each account, and save it once (leave the API Token field blank to keep the current token).
  • A Mock API Mode option was added to each account for testing and demos without a live token or real servers.
  • The {module.api_token} email tag was removed - update any email template that referenced it.

Using Hetzner Cloud

For your staff

Adding a Hetzner Cloud account

Go to Settings > Company > Modules, open Hetzner Cloud on the Installed tab, and click Manage. This lists every account (Hetzner Cloud project) you've connected, with its name and whether Mock API Mode is on. Click Add Account to add another, or Edit next to an existing one to rename it, replace its API Token, or toggle Mock API Mode. The API Token field is always left blank on edit - leave it blank to keep the current token, or paste a new one to replace it.

Building a package

When creating or editing a package, choose Hetzner Cloud as the module and open its Module tab. Here you pick the Account the package provisions against, then the Location, Server Type and Image to build servers from. Below that you set what the package includes: Enable IPv4/IPv6 (with a count limit for each), a Volume Limit, Enable Backups, a Snapshot Limit, Additional Bandwidth (TB) on top of the plan's included traffic, Suspend On Bandwidth Exceeded, and a Bandwidth Warning Threshold (%) that emails the client as they approach their limit (leave it blank or at 0 to disable the warning). A package's Backups, Snapshot and Volume settings also control which of those tabs a client sees for their service - a tab is hidden automatically if the package doesn't include it. Every one of these fields can also be exposed as a configurable option, so clients can pick their own size or add-ons at checkout from a single package.

The package's Welcome Email tab is pre-filled with a template that includes the server name, IPv4/IPv6 addresses and root password - customize it like any other Blesta email template.

Adding a service for a client

From a client's profile, use Add Service and choose the package. Along with the usual billing fields, you'll see the module's own fields: Name (the server's hostname) and an optional SSH Public Key textarea - paste a key here to have it injected into the server when it's built. Submit the form to provision the server immediately (or leave "provision using the module" unticked to create the service without touching Hetzner yet).

Viewing a server's connection details

On a client's profile, open the Services section and click the arrow next to a Hetzner Cloud service to expand it. This reveals the server's ID, root password, IPv4 address, IPv6 address and name at a glance, without opening the full management page - handy for support lookups. Use the filter icon above the list to narrow it down by package if the client has many services.

For your clients

Ordering a server

When ordering a Hetzner Cloud package, clients fill in a Name for their server and can optionally paste an SSH Public Key to have it added automatically - if the same key is already registered on the account, it's detected and reused instead of failing the order.

Checking your server's details

From My Account > Services, click the arrow next to your Hetzner Cloud service to expand it and see your server's ID, root password, IPv4 address, IPv6 address and name without leaving the list.

Manage

The main management screen for the server. It shows the current power state (Running, Off, etc.), its IPv4/IPv6 addresses and price, an Actions menu for Power On/Off, Reboot, Shutdown and Reset, resource summary tiles (vCores, memory, storage, bandwidth), and live graphs for CPU usage, disk IOPS, disk bandwidth, network packets and network bandwidth.

Console

A browser-based VNC console to the server - no extra software needed. Buttons let you send Ctrl+Alt+Del, paste from your clipboard into the console, or pop the console out into its own window.

Reinstall

Pick a system image, app image, or one of your own snapshots from the dropdown and click Reinstall to rebuild the server from it - you're asked to confirm before it actually happens, since this replaces everything currently on the server.

Backups

Shown only when your package includes backups. Lists your automatic daily backups with their size, status and Restore/Delete actions (each with a confirmation prompt), plus a Create Manual Backup button.

Snapshots

Shown only when your package includes a snapshot allowance. Shows how many of your snapshot slots are used, lets you create a new one from an optional description, and lists existing snapshots with Restore/Delete actions (each with a confirmation prompt).

Networking

Shows your IPv4 and IPv6 usage against your package's limits and your bandwidth transfer used this period. Lists your server's addresses with their reverse DNS, and lets you edit the reverse DNS of each one.

Firewall

Manage inbound and outbound rules by source/destination, protocol and port, with Add Rule and Save Rules buttons for each direction. A firewall is only created at Hetzner once you save at least one rule.

SSH Keys

Add a new key by name and public key, or remove one you added previously. Keys you add here are injected the next time the server is reinstalled or rebuilt - they are not applied to an already-running server.

Volumes

Shown only when your package includes a volume allowance. Shows your volume count and total allocated size against your package's limit, the exact mkfs/mkdir/mount commands to format and mount a new volume, a Create Volume button, and a list of existing volumes with Resize/Delete actions (delete asks for confirmation first).

Rescue

Boot the server into the Hetzner rescue system, or reset the root password - both show the result immediately once clicked.

ISO Images

Lists the ISO images available to mount on the server's virtual drive, with a Mount action for each. At most one ISO can be mounted at a time; you can then reboot into it to complete an installation via the Console tab.

Activity Log

A history of every command carried out on the server - what it was, when it started and finished, its status, and any error - useful for confirming an action actually completed.

Good to know

• Renaming your service in Blesta (with "provision with the module" enabled) renames the actual Hetzner server to match, using the same name-uniqueness check as ordering.
• Bandwidth suspension, when enabled on your package, is automatically lifted again once your usage drops back under the allowance for the period - a suspension made for any other reason is left alone.
• Mock API Mode is a staff-only setting used for testing and demos - it serves built-in sample data instead of contacting Hetzner, so no real servers are created while it's on.